To Whom It May Concern
by Jeannie Feegle
Summary: It's 2027, and Jack meets a girl in a bar in Cardiff. He didn't come up to her for flirting - she somehow seems out of place and he's right - she doesn't belong there. Soon, he finds out she knew a very old friend of his, but what happens when an even older friend resurfaces? AU. Rated T for swearing and possible violence
1. Chapter 1

_2 February, 2027._

Jack sat with his colleagues at the bar. Well, he'd never get used to them being his colleagues now. They'd always be his new colleagues, not day to day colleagues, because the old team still had his heart. Tosh's job had now been replaced by Michael, who was in his mid twenties and had something electric about him. His curly brown hair had a bounce to it and his grey looking eyes had a magic sparkle in them. The new medical officer of Torchwood Three was now Dr Alex Cope. Her deep red hair hung in a pony tail and her blue eyes sparkled excitedly, whilst freckles dotted her pale face. There was Lisa as well. She could fade into the night, she was that dark; in physicality and in personality, though there were exceptions. Then there was Rex. Jack still disliked him, especially since he insisted on continuing to call him 'World War Two'. However, it was an advantage that there were now two immortal members of Torchwood Three, no matter how annoying the other person was. Gwen had gone away after the whole Miracle Day business. She still lived in the cottage by the sea. He was happy she was still alive; at least one was left, but it would never be the same. He looked sadly into his empty glass, his memories of the old team running around. Tosh, Gwen, Owen. Oh, Ianto, how he had died in his arms...But life goes on. It wasn't fair, but who said life _was _fair? He looked around, and frowned as he spotted a young girl sitting at a table a little further away. She looked like she had been taken out of an action film or comic book and dropped into Cardiff. Something about her was odd, yet familiar at the same time. It wouldn't harm him to find out. Scrap that, he was immortal, even if she pulled out a gun and shot him in the head, it wouldn't hurt him. For long, anyway. "Won't be long," he said to the others, giving them a smile before sliding off his seat. "Has he got his eyes on someone again?" Alex asked as they watched him. "No, that was his 'concerned but don't know why' stare. He's seen something interesting," Rex explained. "What, you mean her?" Lisa asked, indicating to the girl. "You never know. Anyway, continue your story," Rex demanded.

Meanwhile, Jack came up to the girl. "Hi," he greeted. The girl looked up from her glass of fizzy drink with her deep brown eyes and returned the greeting. "You know a bar isn't really the place for someone like you," he commented.  
"I know. I'm looking for someone," she replied.  
"Oh yeah, who are you looking for?"  
"Not important."  
Jack smiled and stretched out his hand, "Captain Jack Harkness, and who are you?"  
The girl returned a smile and shook his hand, "Chloe Smith, and you're exactly the person I've been looking for."  
Jack frowned, "Really? Why?"  
"I'm a long way from home, and I was told to come and meet you if anything happens. So, here I am."  
Jack thought about what she had just said. "I think you'd better come with me so we can talk about this in private," he said sternly.  
"OK," Chloe said, got up and lifted up a large bag.  
"What's in there?" Jack asked curiously.  
"You'll see."  
"Right. Come on."

Chloe followed him and stopped as he talked to his colleagues. "I'll see you all tomorrow," he told them.  
"Where are you going?" Michael asked, his curly brown hair almost hiding his frown.  
"You'll see tomorrow," Jack replied simply, then walked away with Chloe following him.  
The group of four looked on as they walked out. "I told you," Rex said when he turned back to the others.


	2. Chapter 2

"So then," Jack started as they stood near the lift of the now rebuilt Torchwood Hub, "Tell me."  
"My dad told me you had a base or something," Chloe stated, "It'd be better if we talked there."  
"Your dad? Who is he?"  
"Please, Jack. Anyone could be listening in and I promised I'd keep myself secret."  
"Why? What's so special about you? You need to tell me."  
"Jack, I promise I will."  
Jack squinted at her. "One wrong move," he warned, "And I retcon you, alright?"  
"Got it."

...

"Welcome to Torchwood Three," Jack announced as they came into the Hub.  
Chloe laughed as she looked around, "Wow! It's amazing in here. Looks different to the one at home but it's still brilliant."  
"Right, we're here, now explain," Jack demanded, his arms crossed. He could feel there was something odd about her. She was somehow misplaced, but he still wasn't sure.  
Chloe sighed, dropped her bag on the floor and started rummaging through it. Once she stopped, she stood up, and walked to Jack with a photo frame. "Take a look," she said as she showed him the photo.  
Jack frowned as he looked at it. It was a wedding photo. The bride had blonde hair with dark roots, her brown eyes sparkled and her grin stretched from ear to ear. Next to her stood a tall man, his brown hair was spiky, and a proud smirk hung on his face as well as another pair of deep brown eyes. It took a while for it to sink in for Jack; he couldn't quite comprehend.  
"John and Rose Smith – my parents," Chloe explained, "Though she said I should mention her maiden name's Tyler."  
"Right...Does that mean you have two hearts?"  
Chloe sniggered, "What?"  
"Your father, the Doctor-"  
"Jack, my father's the metacrisis, I think that's what my mum told me anyway, she told me you were there when he was...sort of...created."  
"Ah! That makes sense, but that means you're from a different universe. How did you get here?"  
"Ooh it's a bit...wibbly."  
"Right, wibbly. Where are your parents then? Did they come with you?"  
The glimmer in Chloe's eyes faded, and she looked at the picture. "No, they couldn't," she replied quietly.  
"Why not?"  
Chloe lowered her head, to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes.  
"Chloe."  
She looked at him, and he could see a tear rolling down her face. "They died three years ago, Jack."  
That struck Jack like the words stabbed his heart. "Both of them?"  
Chloe nodded.  
"How? What happened?"  
"There was an alien attack. They managed to stop them and prevent the invasion but there was one left. The rest you can figure out for yourself."  
"What about you?"  
"Got a small scar but that's nothing compared to the emotional damage."  
"I'm guessing your parents worked for UNIT or something then."  
"Or something pretty much summed us up. I worked for that universe's Torchwood. In fact it was like I lived in Torchwood."  
"What do you mean?"  
"From when I was about eight, every day when school had finished, I'd find one of Torchwood's SUVs waiting for me. I'd be driven to where my parents were and I'd help them out."  
"Well it sounds interesting."  
"It was, except I didn't tend to make many friends. I got the intelligence of a Time Lord from my dad and because I was always helping at Torchwood, I didn't have much of a social life."  
"There are worse ways to lead a life."  
"I suppose."  
"What are your plans then?"  
"Could I stay here? I can make myself useful."  
"Well you're not exactly the Doctor but I guess we could do with an extra pair of hands. Speaking of him, do you ever want to find him?"  
"Maybe, why?"  
"Because he's kind of your family if you think about it, but it's in a really messed up way."  
Chloe laughed, "In a way, yes, but I don't mind." She got something out of her bag and then showed it to Jack. It was a familiar design to what he remembered. One of the trademarks of the Doctor.  
"You've got a sonic screwdriver?"  
"Tenth birthday present. I have quite a few. Dad tended to get bored. I know how you could upgrade your systems, want me to do it?"  
"Fine by me."  
Jack watched in amusement as she hopped to the computers and started working on them.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a few hours since Jack met Chloe, and he was already getting irritated by the continuous buzzing of her sonic. He didn't need it often, but he needed sleep. "Chloe," he called as he trudged up the stairs to the girl, who was still working on the computers, "Don't you get some sleep?"  
"I only need a few hours every night. Sorry, was I annoying you?"  
"Just a little."  
"Sorry. I'll do something else."  
"No, come with me, I can find you somewhere to sleep."  
Chloe sighed and got her bag, "Fine, but I have to warn you, I have a tendency to have nightmares."  
"Nightmares? Why?"  
"I think you know why."  
"Right. Come on then."

…

Chloe sighed and frustratedly tapped on the computer. She was trying not to use her sonic and wake Jack but she wasn't getting as far as she wanted. "Nightmare?" Jack's voice suddenly asked from nearby. Chloe's brown hair swung as she looked at Jack, "Yeah. I have them a lot; almost every night. I didn't wake you did I?" "No," Jack said, laughing slightly, "No, it's about 9 in the morning. My body clock's set to wake up before my colleagues. They'll be here soon." "Well then, at least I can get to work," Chloe smiled, took her sonic out and started working again as Jack grinned at her.

Soon, the alarms of the entrance opening sounded. Chloe looked up at Jack who indicated she should follow him. They got to the entrance just as the other four members of Torchwood Three came in. "Morning folks!" Jack greeted cheerfully.  
"What's she doing here, World War Two?" Rex asked as he spotted Chloe.  
"All these years I've known you and you still don't know how to be polite. Give it a try, will you?"  
"Oh, whatever. I got some work to do so would you mind telling me what I want to know?"  
"Don't get excited, Rex," Alex joked, "I'm sure if Jack found something too odd about her that she'd be in one of the cells."  
"Well, I wanna find out what's weird about her. I can see it."  
"Oi! You do realise I'm right here and I'm very capable of firing a bullet that goes through your skull," Chloe snapped, making Jack chuckle and the others look at her.  
"Sorry."  
"Anyway, this is Chloe, she'll be working with us," Jack introduced, "Chloe, this is Rex, Alex, Lisa and Michael; the other members of Torchwood Three."  
"Why would we want a teenager to help us?"  
"Jack, you're not telling us," Michael said as he continuously looked at Chloe. Something about her was fascinating to him.  
"Remember how I told you about my friend Rose?" Jack prompted.  
There were replies of 'of course' and 'why', and Jack gestured to Chloe.  
"No...she can't be," Lisa gasped.  
Michael frowned, "Not following."  
"Well, the Doctor left Rose with the Metacrisis and who better to fall in love with? He had the Doctor's love for Rose so what else were they gonna do?" Jack explained.  
"Well, that's a little fucked up."  
"Just a little. Especially considering that the Metacrisis grew out of the Doctor's severed hand..."  
"Sorry, what?" Alex said, almost choking.  
"Oh, didn't I tell you that bit? I'll tell you later. Anyway, just get on with it shall we? Michael, I need those data collections transferred to the main system and all the new items found catalogued. Alex, go check up on the Weevils we got. Lisa, could you get coffee? Rex, I heard one of the computers bleeping – go and check it out."  
"Bleeping? That's it?" Rex asked.  
"Yes, you never know, there could've been an incident so go!"  
Chloe and Jack watched as the team hurried off.  
"It's not usually this quiet," he explained.  
"Jack!" Rex suddenly called, "We got an alien report about 2 miles west! Someone's been attacked!"  
"Lisa! Michael! Come on! Alex, look after Chloe!"  
"What? I'm not a child, I can come with you," Chloe noted.  
"If something happened and I saw the Doctor, he'd give me an earache. Or worse."  
"Why would he care about me?"  
"Trust me, he would. Come on!"  
Chloe sighed frustratedly as they all hurried out. She hoped it would be a better experience there, but that thought and expectation was completely wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

An hour later, Jack and Michael rushed back in. Alex and Chloe ran to them. "What's happened?" Chloe asked as she saw their worn out faces. "Well, we had to chase an alien through half of Cardiff," Jack replied, "Alex?" "On it," Alex replied and hurried away. "That attack needs to be covered up and we need to try and find out what species of alien that is, Michael," Jack said, "Lisa, the photographs please. Chloe, come with me." Lisa headed to her small office, whilst Jack showed Chloe to his.

"Do you know what they are?" Jack asked as he spread out the photos on his desk for Chloe to see. "I think it's called a Fellatros," Chloe said, a little uncertain, "Where'd you find it?"  
"It was hiding in a corner when we found it, then attacked. We used a taser on it and it died because of the small electric current."  
"That definitely sounds like a Fellatros. They have a lower tolerance to electric currents and they use a, what my Torchwood called, the scared bunny tactic."  
"Scared _bunny_?!"  
"Hey! I didn't come up with the name, OK? I think it sounds as stupid as you do!"  
"So what's the tactic then?"  
"Pretty easy, they go hide, pretend they're scared, make you feel sorry fr them and then attack. Humans have an instinct to care for something that is damaged, and it relies on that instinct to get food. Same goes for basically every race. With a few exceptions in each one of course."  
"That makes sense; you sound very professional."  
Chloe smiled at him, "Thank you!"

Suddenly, a wheezing noise caught Jack's attention. It wasn't exactly wheezing, more like the sound of engines. The sound of engines of the machine he'd longed to see once more. He stood up, stopping Chloe in mid question. "Jack, what's wrong?" She asked, not understanding. "Come with me," he said, running out of his office, "Rex! Scan the area for a spike in artron energy. Michael, check every single CCTV camera in Cardiff Bay." "And I'm looking for what exactly?" Michael asked.  
"A blue box. A blue police box to be precise now hurry the hell up!"  
"A blue box?" Lisa repeated.  
"Am I stuttering? Yes, a blue box!"  
"There's one that just appeared at the entrance."  
Jack set off again, heading for the entrance."  
Lisa looked at Chloe, "What's he doing?"  
"I have no idea," Chloe sighed.

Jack ran into the entrance, only to stop as he set foot in it. His eyes were wide as he saw the man he assumed to be the Doctor leaning on the TARDIS. He looked a bit odd though; he was wearing a bow tie and a tweed jacket of all things. "Hello, Jack," the Doctor greeted. Jack returned the greeting before shouting, "Chloe! Hurry the hell up!" Chloe ran to him, "What?" Jack indicated to the Doctor and she turned to him. "Oh, hello," she greeted, then looked at Jack who just smiled. "This is Chloe," he introduced.  
"Is she one of your Torchwood recruits?" The Doctor guessed, "Mind you, she looks a bit young for that."  
"No, she isn't. You're getting old, not recognising things."  
The Doctor just frowned at him.  
"Oh come on."  
"Sorry, I'm lost," Chloe interrupted whilst the Doctor just stared at her like an unsolved puzzle, and she pointed at the TARDIS, "Blue police box."  
"It's called the TARDIS," the Doctor explained.  
Something clicked in Chloe's mind, "The TARDIS...So you're the Doctor."  
"That's me."  
"You look nothing like my dad."  
"I should hope so, otherwise it would be very wibbly!"  
"Definitely getting old," Jack said, and the Doctor frowned at him, "One word. Rose."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Here's the next chapter! Sorry it's taken a while, but I'm currently a bit ill so have mainly been using my time sleeping or trudging through a day of school. Seriously, I had a day off on Tuesday and spent much f it just sleeping. Anyway, enjoy!**_

"_Definitely getting old," Jack said, and the Doctor frowned at him, "One word. Rose."_

The Doctor looked with wide eyes at Chloe. No, it wasn't possible! Was it? Why didn't he notice? He felt stupid; it seemed rather obvious now. Some things about Chloe screamed Rose. To be fair, it had been such a long time. A century or two ago in fact. "Rose and the Metacrisis," he said softly, smiling a little sadly, "At least she got her Doctor. I could never have been hers. Do they love each other?"  
"They did, yeah. Very much," Chloe replied.  
"What's wrong?" The Doctor asked suspiciously, as Jack put a hand on Chloe's shoulder.  
Chloe looked at her feet, whilst she slowly took out what looked like a locket. She fumbled with it whilst silence hung over them. The Doctor came to Chloe, and took the locket. "Benezine recorder," he noted as he inspected the locket. It looked like it was made of gold, beautifully decorated with a red gem in the middle, "There aren't any buttons on it though. Must be a more advanced type than I've seen before. Doesn't really matter though, I can use my sonic-"  
"Snap." As the Doctor had taken out his sonic, Chloe took out hers. The Doctor grinned at it in surprise. "Dad had a passion for building them in his spare time. Got one every year from when I was ten. My mum, Rose, she told me to give that to you if I met you. Didn't really think I'd have to."  
The Doctor chuckled, "Let's see what this says then." He used his sonic to activate the locket.

"_Doctor, if you've found this, then you'll probably have met Chloe,_" a familiar voice said. It was Rose, _"You might have already found out but...she's my daughter. I'm working with Torchwood on this...universe jumper. Don't worry, it won't rip a hole in the fabric of space and time or anything, because we're going to modify it. Chloe's grown up with the thoughts of aliens and stories about you. I want you to show her the world out there, Doctor. How amazing it is out there. You might be lonely, and Chloe's always seemed like such a lonely girl. She's intelligent, like you, and please, look after her for me, because I can't do that all the time, plus she's sort of family, I suppose. Please, Doctor, do that for me and I'll be forever grateful. And thank you."_

The Doctor grinned. That message almost screamed Rose to him. He frowned as he looked at Chloe, who was smiling as tears dropped from her face. "Are you alright?" He asked, "What's wrong?"  
"Nothing," Chloe replied, wiping the tears from her face, "It's just that I've not heard her voice for a long while."  
"You had to leave her behind. And your dad, I suppose. Your whole world."  
Chloe looked at Jack, who still had his hand on her shoulder. He nodded at her, a pitiful, yet almost dutiful look in his eyes. "Doctor," he said, "Rose died."  
The Doctor's almost invisible eyebrows contorted into a frown, and tears began to form in his eyes. "No, no that's not...that's not possible...How?"  
"Alien attack. Stopped it but couldn't stop them being..." Chloe trailed off, squeezing her eyes closed. She still found it so hard to talk about.  
"No, no, no, no!" The Doctor shouted, and took out his anger by wrestling with a lamp that stood in the corner, before knocking it over and moving further into the little room, pushing things away before he slid down the wall, his head in his hands.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hello! Sorry it's been a while – been stuffed up with illness and exams. I've come to a point where I'm not sure what to do. Would you lot like Jack in the story or not? And would you like it to be the same story or a different one? Please review and tell me because I have no idea whatsoever :p Anyway, enjoy!**_

_"No, no, no, no!" The Doctor shouted, and took out his anger by wrestling with a lamp that stood in the corner, before knocking it over and moving further into the little room, pushing things away before he slid down the wall, his head in his hands. _

Jack and Chloe looked nervously at each other. Neither of them had had to deal with someone who had seemed so upset before. Well, Jack had with Gwen once, but the Doctor was a Time Lord – the universe knew how he'd react. Plus, it wasn't a full on breakdown; it was just not being able to cope. Chloe came up to the Time Lord and sat next to him. "I don't need this!" The Doctor grumbled, "I've had to much of this already; I _don't _need more of it!" "No one needs news like that but we do need it at the same time," Chloe noted. The Doctor raised his head and questioningly looked at Rose's daughter. She was young; she was a newborn baby compared to him yet she had just said one of the wisest things he'd ever heard. Then again, she was Rose and the Metacrisis's daughter – if anything, she _would _be clever. "Do you need anything, Doc?" Jack asked suspiciously. What was he meant to do with an upset Time Lord? Jack smiled, did he want a banana? "If you have it, a fez, tea and jammie dodgers, please. Love a fez..." The Doctor replied, smiling at Jack before looking at his shoes. Chloe silently repeated 'fez' to Jack, but Jack just shrugged his shoulders and walked out. "Is the fez a replacement for the Converse shoes? Or is that the bow tie?" Chloe asked, a small smile on her face. The Doctor looked up, frowning with thought. "Never thought about it really," he replied after a moment of silence, "Maybe both...No, the fez is for the shoes, the bow tie is for the tie and the tweed jacket is for the pinstripe suit." Chloe laughed then stopped for a moment and pondered. The Doctor looked at her and frowned, "What?"  
"I think it's been a while," Chloe replied, letting her eyes wander away as she thought, "Since I laughed. Always been quite busy I suppose."  
"It's good to laugh. Laughing's better than crying. Lots of things are better at crying."  
"But crying's still important because it shows you have a heart, doesn't it?"  
"Is that an actual question or one that I'm not supposed to answer?"  
Chloe stopped and thought for a moment. "I'm not sure, really," she finally replied.  
The Doctor chuckled at her response. She was so human but wasn't at the same time. What she was was interesting though, and he felt that he was obligated to do as Rose had said in the recording. Plus, he felt he _wanted _to show Chloe the stars; he wasn't sure why but that impulse that he had had to take all the others was there. "Where would you like to go, Chloe?" He asked, looking from his box to the teenager.  
Chloe looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain. She was still so used to that; people explaining everything without her asking anything about it. "What do you mean?" She finally said, realising the Doctor hadn't caught onto that just yet.  
"Anywhere in the universe, have you got any preferences?"  
Chloe stopped and thought, "No, not really."  
The Doctor laughed, "It's always better that way! Come on!"  
He jumped up, helped up Chloe and went to the TARDIS with her.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hello! Sorry this has taken quite a while. Someone wanted more Chloe/Jack action and I aim to please so Jack's staying in the story. There are a few references in it because I enjoy references. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!**_

"Wait!" Chloe exclaimed.  
The Doctor sighed, turned around and frowned at her, "What?"  
"What about Jack?"  
The Doctor's almost invisible eyebrows bent into a deeper frown, "Jack?"  
"Yeah. We can't just leave him behind! He seems lonely."  
"He's got a team of people to worry about, why would he be lonely with them around?"  
"Because he sleeps in his office and he seemed to get really excited when you came."  
The Doctor was taken aback by that, "Oh. Right."  
"Have you ever wondered how lonely people sometimes are when you drop them back on Earth, Doctor?"  
"Suppose not."  
"Perhaps you need to sometimes, because people get hurt."  
The Doctor pulled a thoughtful face, remembering what Amy said to him during the incident with the cubes and the Shakri, then sighed, "Fine. Where is he?"

"Found it," Jack said as he came in, grinning as he held up the fez. The Doctor smiled gleefully as his old friend threw him the fez.  
The Doctor chuckled as he placed it on his head. "I never knew you had one!"  
"I went to Egypt with my wife, Estelle, once. She bought it for me," Jack explained, sparkles formed by memories appearing in his eyes.  
"You have a wife?" The Doctor asked. Jack never seemed like a man to commit.  
"Had. She died. I had to do something when you were gone."  
The Doctor chuckled a little. "Fancy a trip, Jack?"  
Jack frowned and gave the Time Lord a suspicious stare, "What happened to me being wrong?"  
The Doctor laughed again, "A lot more wibbly stuff has gone on and the TARDIS handled it; I'm sure she can handle you. What do you say? One more trip?"  
Jack chuckled, "Why did I say no last time?"  
The Doctor frowned. Jack seemed so committed to his team last time, now he didn't mind running off. What had changed since last time? "Because of your team."  
"All changed now. What are we waiting for then?"  
The Doctor laughed. That explained it. He opened the TARDIS doors, before jumping inside, followed by Chloe and Jack.  
"Whoa!" Jack exclaimed as they came inside. The current ostentatious, and gigantic console room of the TARDIS was a surprise to him, since he had been used to the smaller, more dimly lit one.  
Chloe laughed as she started to wander around, "It's amazing! It's better than what mum described it as!"  
"He redecorated," Jack explained, "But I kind of like it. It's more grand than before."  
The Doctor smiled triumphantly as he leaned on the console, "Won't your team notice your absence, Jack?"  
"You've got a time machine," Jack retorted, "You should be able to bring be back on the right date, otherwise I also have my vortex manipulator. Good thing I don't have to rely on you all the time."  
"Right, of course! River's got one of those. I've gotten used to it but it's still a space hopper! Rubbish way of time travel!"  
"Oh, whatever! Who's River?"  
"Close friend."  
"Ooh, do you mean companion close or incredibly close?" Jack asked, wanting to know more. The Doctor's reluctance to talk about the River woman was intriguing, considering he was happily talking about her but wouldn't go into detail.  
The Doctor thought about the pending consequences if he told Jack about River; and him meeting her was definitely out of the question. "Oh shut up! Let's just go, shall we?"  
Jack grinned at Chloe as the Doctor spun around the console, and soon, the TARDIS flew into the time vortex.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hello! Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took a while. It's a bit flimsy but it's just an in-between chapter and I promise more action in the next chapter. Anyway, enjoy!**_

The TARDIS eased as it slowed down to floating in space. Jack chuckled as he and Chloe loosened the grip on the rails of the console room. "It's still as bumpy as ever," he stated, "Not much changed there then."  
The Doctor laughed, then turned to Chloe, who tried to regain her balance. "Chloe, there's a wardrobe in this old ship. Go and find it," he ordered casually.  
Chloe looked at him again, waiting for his explanation. "You're meant to enjoy yourself, and that probably won't happen wearing that," Jack explained. He had caught on quickly to what Chloe was used to, and understood that she was used to people explaining things without her asking – her father was a bit of a rambler to say the least, but that was the Doctor.  
"But not a dress!" The Doctor pointed out, "No good running in a dress."  
"I wasn't even thinking of a dress but OK," Chloe agreed, still a little confused, and headed up one of the set of stairs and disappeared.

Jack laughed, "I think this is gonna be fun."  
"When isn't it?" The Doctor asked jokily.  
Jack laughed again, "It's nice of you to do this."  
"Just helping a friend. What changed about you, Jack?"  
"Not following."  
"What about responsibility, and saving the Earth? That was all going on last time I asked you to come with me, so you said no. What's different now?"  
"People die, or they move on. You of all people should know that."  
"I suppose."  
"Not done this much...Just chat, have we?"  
"No, we haven't."  
"It's rather strange."  
"That it is. Who did you travel with? After Donna? You know, if there was anyone"  
"Oh, have to go poking into my life, do you?"  
"Excuse me! Just wondering!"  
"Sorry."  
"Doesn't matter. Didn't exactly mean to offend you. Did they go?"  
"Yeah. I still see their daughter every now and then but um...one psychopath per TARDIS is enough, don't you think so?"  
"Yeah," Jack laughed, "Was that what she said?"  
"Yeah..."  
He laughed again, "She sounds clever. She must know you well."  
The Doctor grinned. River Song definitely knew him, "That she is, and yes, she does."  
Jack smiled. It was nice to see the Doctor vaguely happy, if that was what he could call it.  
"Is this alright?" Chloe asked as she came back down. She now wore jeans and a light blue top that was all too familiar to the Doctor, and also wore short boots that were almost hidden by her jeans and had no heels. The Doctor smiled. It was clear she understood that there would be a lot of running involved.  
"It's fine, absolutely fine," the Doctor replied, "Jack, anywhere you want to go. No bars!"  
"Oh, you take the fun out of everything!" Jack joked, "There's a little planet in the Scorpion Nebula. Amazing views, didn't have all too much trouble."  
"Exact location?"  
"No idea. Let me type in the coordinates for you."  
"Oh, humans, always want to be in charge, don't you?!"  
"Bit of a Napoleon complex."  
The Doctor laughed as he pointed to the typewriter for Jack to type in the coordinates. Once finished, Jack stepped back and the Doctor again twirled around the console, preparing it to speed off into space. "Best to hold on again!" He announced as he pulled the lever. Chloe and Jack held on tightly to the rails since they weren't as used to the rackety yet amazing old space- and time-ship as the Doctor was and the TARDIS flew off and into the Scorpion Nebula


	9. Chapter 9

"It's beautiful!" Chloe exclaimed as they stepped out of the blue box, into snow covered hills.  
"It's better in the spring," Jack said as they looked around, "All the flowers bloom and there are insects and birds all around the place."  
"You didn't come across this place on purpose, did you?" The Doctor asked.  
"I worked for the Time Agency. Not every place looks like you expected it to."  
"I definitely know that. What happened here then?"  
"Nasty business. A very quick, unexpected invasion on a planet as primitive as Earth in the 18th Century when they had extremely high speed and effective teleports. The planet didn't have a chance if we hadn't picked up the distress."  
"Always a hero."  
Jack laughed, "Not really."  
The Doctor laughed, "Come on. Let's have a look!"  
The Doctor couldn't help but wonder about Chloe. It was clearly cold where they were, yet she happily kept up with him and Jack whilst they walked up and down hills. "Aren't you cold?" He asked, unable to contain his curiosity.  
"No," Chloe replied, "Should I be?"  
"Are you used to the cold?" Jack inquired. Chloe was a bit of a mystery to both of them. She was a bit like River in a way, yet she only had one heart, though neither of them were quite sure of the anatomy of the part human, part Time Lord teenager that was Rose Tyler's daughter. It only just came to the Doctor's mind that Rose had been exposed to the background radiation that was caused by travelling with him.  
"I don't know. I quite liked going to Snowdonia."  
"Snowdonia?!" The Doctor repeated.  
"We used to go there all the time, to retrieve alien objects before UNIT got their hands on it."  
The Doctor laughed, as Jack noticed flashes from all around them. "Jack, what's wrong?" He asked suspiciously. The Captain had a good eye for technology, and things that could cause trouble.  
A shot sped through the air and went through Jack before he could answer. He fell backwards, and some of the snow near him was being stained by blood. The Doctor pulled Chloe behind her when he saw Jack had fallen. "What happens? Does he come back to life like mum said?" Chloe asked, her eyes fixed on her friend who she was told would only ever be temporarily dead.  
"It can take a while," the Doctor replied, then saw the advancing aliens, "Stay behind me!"  
"Like I would!" Chloe retorted, pulled herself out of the Doctor's grip went to the edge of the top of the hill and turned back to him, "Plus, they're coming from all sides, and the man who'd might know what to do right now is currently dead!"  
"Any idea of what to do?" The Doctor asked, with hope but without it at the same time.  
"Point and think?" Chloe suggested.  
The Doctor laughed, "Sounds good to me!" He turned back to face the creatures that were coming closer and closer to them. They seemed like a cross between a wasp and a human, complete with fur, but they had no wings. He whipped out his sonic screwdriver and attempted to stun the creatures. It affected them a little, but they had more resistance than the Time Lord thought. "Any luck?" He asked loudly.  
Chloe was shooting the dozens of human-wasp creatures that were near her with a small gun that she had kept in her pocket, "Yeah."  
"Oh. How?!"  
"Always be prepared for any situation!"  
"Ha! Sounds good! Um...Uh oh."  
"What's the uh oh? Why the uh oh?!" Chloe asked worriedly and turned round, only to see the Doctor being taken by the wasp humans. "Doctor!"  
"Don't worry, I'll sort it!" He assured as he struggled and flailed in an attempt to get out of the aliens' grip.  
Chloe took out her sonic and activated it, closing her eyes while making it produce a sound that damaged the creatures' hearing systems. When it stopped, she looked around. The creatures had gone, and had taken the Doctor with them.

Jack suddenly gasped for air, making Chloe jump in surprise. "Are you alright?" She asked as she helped him up.  
"Dying always hurts," he said, making Chloe laugh, "Where's the Doctor?"  
"I don't know."  
"What do you mean you don't know?" Jack asked sternly.  
"They took him, I tried to stop them but...Sorry."  
"Never mind, we'll find him!" Jack assured cheerfully, showing her his vortex manipulator, "This can help us, but we have to walk there on our own."  
"It's a start."  
"Oh yes!"


	10. Chapter 10

"Let go of me!" The Doctor demanded angrily as he pulled out of the grip of the human-wasp creatures as they arrived in a clay coloured building. He looked around, and then turned to one of the wasp-humans. "Where are my friends?" He asked, a demanding tone in his voice. He _hated _teleports, and also had a strong dislike when he didn't know what was going on.  
"They were unnecessary," a raspy voice said behind them.  
All of them turned round, and the wasp-humans bowed before the much larger wasp-human who now stood in front of them. It had a regal aura to it, like it was treasured.  
"Unnecessary?!" The Doctor exclaimed in hatred, not bothering about who the wasp-human was, "They are my friends! An immortal man and a girl who is at least part Time Lord are _unnecessary_?! Ha! And who are you to say if someone is necessary or not?! The queen bee?! Also, what species?! You're not a Vespiform, I know that!"  
"We were once Vespiform, but strayed too far. We found a home here and, well, some of the colonists decided to reproduce. I am the leader of our colony."  
"That gives you no right to think my friends unnecessary! And what's your name, then? Because you're no longer Vespiform, I can see that."  
"My name is Herbreas, and you are a Time Lord. If anyone can help, it's you."  
"Why? Why do you need help? And you could've just asked instead of kidnapping me!"  
"We needed you safe."  
"Safe?!"  
"We are underground, and only able to come via teleports. It protects us from the beast."  
"A beast? What beast?!"  
"It hunts us. We can't stop it; it's too fast. We once thrived, and we lived in the parts of this planet that weren't occupied by other species, yet now we fear we are the only ones left on this planet. We no longer hear the sounds of the other species that lived peacefully on this world."  
"And it's still out there?!"  
"Yes. Otherwise we wouldn't be coming to you for help."  
"My friends are out there! They could get killed!"  
"The immortal man will live."  
"And Chloe, hm?"  
Herbreas was silent.  
"You need to realise something, Herbreas. That girl is from another universe, the daughter of someone who I lost. That someone asked me to look after her and that is what I'll do but if you stand in my way of that, then I can easily rid of your existence!"  
"Then help us and do so quickly before the beast finds them, Doctor."  
"How am I supposed to do that when I don't know what I'm dealing with?!"  
"Find it out, Time Lord."  
"That might be very tricky."  
"We're rather advanced."  
"I don't have my TARDIS."  
"Then make do."  
The Doctor stared at Herbreas for a few moments before giving in. Time was running out and he needed to make sure Chloe and Jack were safe. He told Herbreas the list of things he needed and gave the leader a look as it nodded to the workers who hurried away.  
"You are impressive," it rasped with a tone of congratulation.  
"I try my best. Does the creature have routine?"  
"It is fairly regular."  
"Then, Herbreas, as your workers get your stuff, please tell me about it."  
"It knows we are here, It must have keen senses. We have cameras which watch out for us."

"And?"

"It comes here one day, then it's gone for two days and then it comes again. It must be incredibly fast. Sometimes it's longer than that, but sometimes, on a few occasions, it has been shorter than that."

"When did it come last?"

The pause before Herbreas answered made the Doctor feel all the more uncomfortable. "Two days ago," the wasp-human leader finally replied.

"Then you ought to really hope that the beast is not coming today, or that I stop it before it finds my friends."

"Then we shall hope so. We know the anger of a Time Lord."

The Doctor frowned and then smiled, "Right! We better get to work!"


	11. Chapter 11

The freezing cold of the planet's winter even affected Jack, who shivered a little every time the icy wind brushed his face. To his surprise, it might as well have been a spring day for Chloe. She was wearing clothes fit for a nice spring day, yet the chilly temperatures didn't seem to be slowing her down at all. Suddenly, she stopped and looked around. "Something wrong?" Jack asked.  
"I think, can't be certain, but I think someone's following us," Chloe replied.  
"How do you know?"  
"I don't know, I just feel like someone's watching or something."  
"It's probably nothing. We better get going. Time's a-ticking and we're no closer to knowing where the Doctor is."  
"Right, OK."

They set off again, over a few hills but mostly walking on flat land that was covered with snow, sometimes stopping to scan. Teleports left some sort of reading and they should be able to trace it, if they got close enough. They suddenly heard a snarling behind them. It was almost metallic, which made it sound all the more menacing. They turned around, and saw the almost fluorescent purple creature. Its eyes were green flames, and its claws were enormous. It looked like a giant panther who had been involved in an accident involving chemicals.

"I think we need to run. Fast," Chloe said. Jack agreed and they turned around before running for their lives. The creature growled and leapt towards them. It got so close to them that one of its claws scratched Chloe's arm, but both of them were too focused on getting away to notice, or at last stop to do something about it. Jack got out his gun and tried to shoot it, but it only affected the creature a little. "Come on!" He shouted, directing Chloe to the snow covered forest that was imprinted in his mind for all the right reasons. They entered the white forest and hid behind one of the trees.  
"It'll find us," Chloe said quietly, a catch in her voice, "It always does."  
"What do you mean?" Jack asked concernedly, at the same volume.  
"That creature is a patnon," she explain, "And that's the race which tried to invade and one of them killed my parents."  
"Is there any way of stopping them?"  
"Yeah. A certain weapon. I've always kept it by me but today had to be the day where I left it in my bag, didn't it?"  
"That's not good."  
"Definitely."  
"Is it possible it came from your parallel universe?"  
"How would I know that?!"  
"I don't know, just a thought  
"So, any ideas of what to do?"  
"We can't run much further. We can hope it'll just get bored of chasing us."  
"That sounds good. I'm taking advice from a teenager..."  
Chloe chuckled a little, "If you don't like it, then think of your own ideas."  
Jack put his index finger on his lips, and they could hear the crunching of snow and then a loud roar. They were as still as statues, in anticipation and fear. The patnon seemed to be circling the trees around them, and Jack smiled to himself as he was reminded that they were in a rather dense forest. It would need immense strength to make its giant body get to them, as the trees were strong and their roots stronger than the trunks themselves. Jack had learned that the hard way. All of a sudden, the creature let out a roar so loud, they wouldn't doubt it could be heard miles away. Thinking it was going to attack, both pressed their eyes shut, but to their surprise, nothing happened. After they cautiously opened their eyes, Jack spotted the patnon lying on the ground outside of the forest, lifeless. Jack signalled Chloe to follow him, and they swerved past the trees before coming before the now dead creature. Chloe looked up, and saw a woman a few feet away. She had dark blonde frizzy hair, wore a white outfit that was fit for winter, and a gun was held in her hand. Chloe tapped Jack's shoulder and nodded in the direction of the woman. "Who are you?" Chloe asked out of curiosity.

"I'm River Song," the woman replied, "And where is my husband?"


	12. Chapter 12

_**Hello! Here's the next chapter. Updates may be rather slow because I'm starting to study for exams, and May is going to be a hectic month. You have been warned! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it :)**_

_"I'm River Song," the woman replied, "And where is my husband?"_

Chloe frowned, "Your husband?"  
"Most commonly known as the Doctor," River explained.  
"Oh. We're trying to find him now."  
"You lost him?" River asked as she came closer to them.  
"Sort of. It wasn't really our fault."  
"It's never good to leave that Time Lord on his own. Who are you?"  
Jack smiled - that was his moment - and stretched a hand out to River, "Nice to meet you, River Song, I'm Captain Jack Harkness, and this is...Chloe..." He trailed off as he looked at Chloe and spotted the gash on her arm. Chloe looked at him, fear in her eyes, as she showed him her hand. She'd been holding it, and now her hand was covered with blood. "That's not good. Definitely not good!"  
"What? What is it?" River asked, seeing something was wrong, as Jack searched his pockets, and triumphantly took out an old handkerchief.  
"This might hurt, OK?" He said to Chloe.  
"I'm not that much of a child, Jack, I've had cuts before. You don't need to show so much concern."  
Jack chuckled, "Sorry." He wrapped the handkerchief round Chloe's arm.  
"Let me see," River said. Jack stepped aside and she walked up to Chloe, taking out her device that was able to scan anything, much like the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, but she found it handier.  
"I'm fine!" Chloe insisted impatiently.  
River frowned at her scanner. It showed the wound, but what she found more interesting was what else it showed. "Turn to face me."  
"Oh for goodness sake, _I am fine_!"  
"Just let me see!"  
Chloe sighed and turned to face her.  
"No," River whispered, "That's not possible..."  
"What?" Jack asked, curious.  
River turned to him, "She has two hearts."  
"What?!"  
River turned back to Chloe, "You've got two hearts!"  
"Yes, I know, now we should find the Doctor," Chloe said, determined to get a move on. She didn't want to do that now when they had more important things to do than to fuss over her extra heart.  
Jack frowned, "Why didn't you tell us?"  
"Mum and dad told me not to trust anyone about it. That people would have me locked up or something like that, and I didn't know the right time to tell you-"  
"That means you're a Time Lord, or a Time Lady, or whatever the female version of a Time Lord is called."  
"Yes, now shouldn't we be finding the Doctor? He could be hurt."  
"You've got a point," River agreed, "And what is that creature?"  
"A patnon."  
"Right. Another species I haven't encountered. I'm assuming it's dangerous."  
"Very."  
"Could there be more of them?"  
"I don't think so."  
"Good, then we should really get going. Have you got an idea of where he is?"  
"No idea," Jack replied, "We're trying our best. Any ideas?"  
"Plenty." She typed something in on her device and sent it.

The Doctor was busy creating the object that would help them, when his sonic made a sound. He looked at it and smiled. _Hello sweetie_. He pointed his sonic to the ceiling and made it whirr for a message to appear on River's device.

River grinned at the message; the entire process had only taken a few seconds. _Geronimo_. "Well, now I have a better idea of where he is," she said happily.  
Chloe laughed, "What did you do?"  
"Oh, that doesn't matter. What does matter is that we are one step closer."  
"How did you come here, anyway?" Jack wondered.  
"Again, it doesn't matter as much as finding the Doctor. Who knows what they're doing to him? Come on."


	13. Chapter 13

"Aha!" The Doctor exclaimed triumphantly. He had been crouching by a strange, makeshift machine, that he hoped would eradicate the problem.  
"Have you finished it?" Herbreas asked. The leader of the wasp-humans had moved around the chamber, sometimes others would come in.  
"Yes," the Doctor replied, "Well, I hope so anyway."  
"Are you sure it will work?"  
"It has to, because I don't see any other way of getting rid of it, and I want my friends safe."  
"What does it do?"  
"A lot of things, I think. One is a surface detector, I can see how far away they are."  
"How?"  
The Doctor grinned and stood up. He got out his sonic and pointed it at the makeshift machine. Soon, it started beeping. Four, rhythmic beats. _Beep, beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep, beep_. The rhythm sounded scarily familiar, but he needed to solve the original problem first. He looked at one of the small screens of the machine. There were four dots; three were very close together. They weren't far from the underground place he was in. The Doctor grinned, the other dot was rather far away. However, his smile faded as the fourth dot suddenly started to move incredibly fast. It was almost impossible. "No, no. That's not good. Oh, that was rather unexpected and very, very bad," he muttered to himself  
"What?" Herbreas asked.  
The Doctor turned to the wasp-human. "Whatever the beast is, I think it's coming for my friends."  
"Are you able to contact them?"  
"I might be able to."  
"Then, if they are so important to you, do it."  
"I would have done so anyway!" He grinned, and activated his sonic again.

_Run_. The three letter word appeared on River's device. River frowned as she pondered about it. Her husband was insane and clever, and she didn't know whether following his word was beneficial or not. "River, are you alright?" Chloe asked as her and Jack noticed the woman hadn't been keeping up with them. River looked up at her. "Yes, of course," she replied, "We need to be careful."  
"That basically sums up life with the Doctor. You _always _need to be careful," Jack said.  
There suddenly was an almost mechanical hissing from near them. They looked around, and River was the first one to notice what it was. _Run_. Of course. "I think we need to run," she said, "and do so very fast." Jack and Chloe knew better than to argue – that was that sort of life. "What is it?" Chloe asked as they ran as fast as they could, away from the creature. "I don't know, but I'm certain it's not friendly," River answered.  
"By the way, how did you get here?"  
"Does it matter?"  
"Yes!"  
"Vortex manipulator."  
"Does that require co-ordinates or something like that?"  
"It needs a base code," Jack answered.  
"How do you know that?"  
"I have one, but it's kind of broken."  
"Right." Chloe managed to get out her sonic and made it whirr. Moments later, it made a strange little noise – it sounded like something between a whirr and a ding. "Jack!"  
Jack managed to catch it perfectly as Chloe threw it to him, and then gave it back to her. They had slowed down by now. They had thought they had run enough to get away from the sinister sounding creature.  
"What's the base code?" River asked.  
"Seven and three," Jack replied.  
They once again heard the mechanical hissing, louder this time. They turned around and it was getting closer by the second.  
"River, go," Chloe demanded, her eyes fixed on the creature. It was as black as day, and its shape kept changing.  
"Do you really think I'm leaving you two here?!" River said.  
"Chloe, don't be too rash," Jack said, grabbed her hand and put both of theirs on River's as the creature advanced, "River."  
"What's meant to happen?"  
"My vortex manipulator doesn't work without the help of a sonic device, I'm guessing yours doesn't need it, now hurry up!"  
River sighed and pressed a button on her vortex manipulator. They disappeared into thin air, just in time, as the strange creature would have jumped onto them and killed them if they had taken one second longer.


	14. Chapter 14

River, Jack and Chloe arrived in the underground structure. "Yours is better than mine!" Jack said to River, smiling. River chuckled in reply. They were used to the problems inflicted upon themselves when using it, but Chloe wasn't at all. She blinked and shook her head to try and get rid of the dizziness that overcame her. "You OK?" Jack asked her.  
"Yeah, fine, but that thing messes with your head!"  
"Tell me about it! How's your arm?"  
"Fine."  
He gave her a fatherly look. He knew that 'fine' could mean 'not fine at all'.  
"It could be worse!"  
"That it could," he laughed, "Come on, we might not have much time."  
Jack signalled to one tunnel, Chloe whipped out her sonic and started scanning for readings of a Time Lord

The Doctor was still in the chamber, trying to figure out what to do. He still wasn't sure if it would work, and he needed a way to get his three friends stuck on the surface into the safety of the underground hive-like place, which seemed like a massive maze. He activated the scanner again. _Reading of one living being_. The Doctor frowned. Impossible. He scanned it for the last reading for four organisms. _Reading of four living beings last recorded 15 minutes ago_. He needed to make sure, you could never be sure enough in those situations. He made the scanner show where the last readings were, and the readings shocked him and stabbed him in the heart. "No, no, no, no, NO!" He shouted, enraged by the thought of death.  
"What?" Herbreas asked as it came in, seeing the Doctor was in clear distress.  
"This is your fault!" He shouted at it, "If you had teleported them as well, then we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!"  
"I don't know what you mean!"  
"They're dead!"  
Herbreas looked shocked, and the Doctor had to come to terms with the words he had just spoken.  
"Chloe and Jack and River – they're dead."  
"You said your friend was immortal-"  
"Well I don't know if he is now!" He roared. He was sick of having lost people. Rose, twice. Martha and Donna. Amy and Rory. Now them. Life and loss always caught up on him.

Suddenly, he heard an all too familiar sound. The whirring that could only belong to one like his. He only knew one other person who possessed one like his. He looked around, trying to find the origin of the sound. Was she still alive? She couldn't be, could she? There was always hope. He had to remember that. There was always hope. "Chloe!" He called, looking round.  
"Doctor, you are mad!" Herbreas said. It couldn't follow the Time Lord's train of thought. Well, not really, anyway.  
The door to the chamber opened, the Doctor immediately saw Chloe. He almost ran to her and grabbed her into a hug. "Oh, I knew it! You can never get rid of me!"  
Chloe laughed as he locked her into the embrace, "Be careful of the arm!"  
"Why, what's wrong with your arm?" He asked, genuinely concerned as they pulled out of the hug. He looked at her arm and sighed. "Oh well, it should fix itself , it's not lethal. Plus, you have something to tell me, haven't you?"  
"Yeah, but how do you know about that?"  
"A Time Lord can recognise another Time Lord," the Doctor replied as he walked over to river and put an arm around her shoulder, "Has it been a while, River?"  
"Yes, it has," River answered.  
"Oh. Apologies." He kissed her on the cheek.  
"It's not been long enough, though."  
"Ah. Yes. Sorry. Again."  
"Doctor," Herbreas called, looking up at the ceiling.  
"Yes?"  
The leader of the wasp-humans looked at him, "It has stopped. It is above us."  
"What is?" Jack asked in curiosity.  
Herbreas looked at the immortal man. "The beast."


	15. Chapter 15

"Can it get in?" Chloe asked, worried.  
"Hopefully not," Herbreas replied, "We don't know."  
"Why don't you know?!"  
"It's never stopped."  
It was Jack's turn to ask the questions. "Do you know if that's good?"  
"We don't know."  
"Then I suggest we do my plan," the Doctor said as he crouched down to his make-do machine.  
"By the way," River suddenly stated, noticing the fez, "Who gave him the fez?"  
Chloe could sense that the Doctor's wife wasn't exactly happy about her husband's choice of hat. "That was him," she answered, pointing to Jack who nudged her.  
River accusingly pointed at Jack. "Don't encourage him!"  
Chloe chuckled as Jack dutifully nodded in reply, then twisted on her heel and walked to the Doctor. "Need any help?" She asked as she crouched next to him.  
The Time Lord scoffed, "I doubt you'd be able to."  
"I helped out at Torchwood since I was little. I'll know at least a bit about it. So, what are you trying to do?"  
The Doctor thought for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure. Just trying to fix this. Any ideas?"  
"Except talking to it? No. It looks like a...blob, though. If that helps."  
"A blob?!"  
"Yeah."  
"Did it have teeth?"  
"None that I could see. It was just so strange."  
The Doctor hummed, thinking through it all. He knew there was a link somewhere, but he couldn't find it. The Time Lord's mind was scrambled. It didn't much help that he could hear River and Jack flirting with each other. He fixed his bow tie; that usually used to help him think, but it just made him more sad. He had always been uselessly trying to convince Amy that bow ties were cool, but she was never convinced. It made him smile. _A bow tie wearing alien_. His thoughts were interrupted by Chloe whacking him on the head with her sonic and asking him if he was alright. "Of course I am!" He retorted.  
Chloe begged to differ. She knew it could be hard to take it all in. She suddenly frowned then turned to Jack. "Jack, able to help?"  
"With what?" Jack asked, his eyes still fixed on River and his cheeky grin not leaving his face.  
"The creature type thing," Chloe prompted, "Did you notice anything?"  
"Well, it has eyes."  
Chloe looked at the Doctor who just gave her a thoughtful look in reply, then smiled. He jumped up and walked to River. "I think you can be very helpful in this case," he stated, grinning.  
River raised her eyebrows at him, "Really?"  
"Yes, because Jack doesn't have a working vortex manipulator and I don't carry a gun."  
His wife pursed her lips. "Where's this going?"  
"Gun, vortex manipulator, you, alien's eye, easy," he said in a singsong.  
"That creature is incredibly fast, what's so easy about it?"  
"Vortex manipulator."  
"It may not make any difference."  
"You'll still be safe. Vortex manipulator."  
"You called the vortex manipulator a space hopper compared to the TARDIS which you called a sports car," Jack pointed out. River raised her eyebrows as the Doctor hopelessly stuttered, and the entire scene just made Chloe snigger.  
"A space hopper?" River mused.  
"Compared to the TARDIS, yes," the Doctor said, "Your a child of the TARDIS, you must understand."  
"Oh, I do, but it's not any good insulting it!" She whacked the top of the fez, making it cover the Doctor's eyes.  
"Ow!" He yelled, replacing the fez on his all too healthy head of hair and giving her a frown, "Would you just hurry before it changes its mind?!"  
"Chloe."  
Chloe nodded at her, whipped out her sonic, pointed it upwards and activated it before reading off it the numbers River needed.  
"Thank you." River typed in the numbers on her vortex manipulator and then looked at her husband. "Here I go."  
"Good luck," the Doctor said, a genuine tone in his voice.  
"I don't think I need luck, but thank you!"  
With that, she pressed a button and disappeared within an instant.


	16. Chapter 16

Chloe watched as her legs dangled off the bed. She was in the room that had her name on the door of it, and when she came in she just saw everything that made it perfect. It was quiet, and strange, but she loved it. It was her own world and she indulged in it. The business with the wasp-humans had been over and done with. River had shot the creature and came back just in time. The beast had died and the Doctor had promised Herbreas everything should soon return to normal. Somehow. It didn't matter to her. Nothing did because the TARDIS had made her a little bubble.

Unfortunately, that bubble had burst when the Doctor came in. She hadn't even noticed at first – she was on the verge of falling asleep. "You've found somewhere, then," he said to snap her out of her trance. Chloe's head shot up, and she greeted him. "I've never seen this room before..." He said as he jumped onto the bed to sit next to her, "That's the TARDIS for you. She likes taking care of its inhabitants."  
Chloe smiled at him, then looked back at her feet.  
"How did you...Come to be?" The Doctor asked.  
Chloe looked at him again, a slightly amused smile on her face as she waited for clarification.  
"You know, you're a Time Lord but you worked for Torchwood. How did that happen?"  
"Dad said he had...grown a TARDIS. I don't know how that works but it did. Mum and dad had travelled together and that's apparently how I was...conceived."  
"But how did you get in Torchwood?!"  
"Getting to it!"  
The Doctor chuckled, "Alright then – go on."  
"It broke, and they found themselves back on Earth. Soon Mum had found out she was pregnant but they needed to work so they worked at Torchwood."  
"That's very wibbly."  
Chloe laughed, "Yeah!"  
"Well, the TARDIS seems to like you. She always does like its inhabitants, but some more than most."  
"Do you do that as well?"  
"Do what?"  
"Have favourites?"  
"No. I don't think I do."  
"Come on, not one?"  
The Doctor hesitated, stuttered and pulled faces as he thought. "Maybe," he finally said.  
Chloe chuckled, "Which one?"  
"I suppose I was very close to Sarah Jane. Closer than I have been with others."  
"How close?"  
"Not as close as you're thinking!" He said, poking her.  
Chloe laughed, "Why closer than others then?"  
"Well, some of my friends have kissed me-"  
Chloe sniggered.  
"Oi!" He poked her again. "What's so funny about that?!"  
"That people want to kiss you!"  
"Hey! I've looked worse, you know!"  
Chloe just laughed again. "OK, tell me."  
"No matter how close I've been to my friends who I travelled with – once they left, I'd never see them again. Not usually. Except for Sarah Jane. There's some sort of bond between us that I can't explain. It's more than just...romance. It's something stronger than that. Of course there's River – she's my wife. But with Sarah Jane, it's something different. Do you understand that?"  
"Yes. So, was she nice."  
"Yes! She still is! Very nice!"  
Chloe smiled at him. "Where are Jack and River?"  
"I think they're still flirting," the Doctor replied, bemused. He knew he was unable to stop the flirting, and that was what irritated him. "Putting those two together is like putting Mentos in Coca Cola." He imitated an explosion, making both him and Chloe laugh. "I've never actually tried that, but, apparently, it does make some sort of reaction."  
"I haven't tried it either."  
They looked at each other, amusement in their eyes. They knew exactly where to go next and what to do.


	17. Chapter 17

"What are you doing?" River asked as the Doctor came back with Jack. She had been talking to Chloe whilst the Doctor wanted Jack's help with something. The universe knew what he was up to, and was probably laughing because of it. As she did with Jack and the Doctor, Chloe intrigued River. They had been swapping questions and answers with each other, slowly piecing on another together, and River began to like the girl. After all, they were sort of family, in a way. Not by blood, but by species. That made her feel even closer to Chloe, but everything seemed so special about her, so unique.  
"I don't know what he's up to," Jack replied as he leaned on the railings next to her, "But I'm guessing it's not harmful considering he wanted me to buy Mentos and Coca Cola."  
River laughed as Chloe skipped over to the Doctor, who was fidgeting with a plastic case.  
"Why do you think he's doing it?" Jack asked as he watched the pair.  
"The Doctor is like a little child at times, especially in this incarnation, and from what I've gathered, Chloe's not had much of a childhood, so together..."  
"You get Mentos and Coca Cola," Jack added, "Literally."  
"Yes."  
Jack chuckled, "Well, at least this is going to be fun!"  
River laughed and looked on as the Doctor triumphantly smiled at her and skipped over towards the console. "I'm supposing we're going somewhere," she pointed out.  
"Yes!" The Doctor replied, spinning round to her and giving her another smile, "What else should we do? There's no point in staying in here for so long when there are galaxies to explore!"  
River laughed again, "Where?"  
"There's an uninhabited planet – a neutral planet – where there are fields the size of continents. Anyone can go there, but if you try to claim it, then you'll have the Shadow Proclamation on your back!" The Doctor explained gleefully.  
"I'm not even going to ask how you know that!" Jack exclaimed.  
The Doctor just smiled and spun round again. "Chloe!" He called.  
In reply, Chloe poked her head out of hiding from behind the centre column of the TARDIS, an expectant expression on her face.  
"Press that button over there, please," the Doctor said, pointing to one of the many pieces on the console.  
"Got it," Chloe said and pressed the button he had directed her to. He continued to direct her to us the controls of the console.  
"Doctor, what are you doing?" Jack asked as Chloe worked around the console.  
"Teaching her to fly the TARDIS," the Doctor replied casually before continuing to teach Chloe.  
"OK, why?"  
"She's the child of the TARDIS. Well, I say _the_ TARDIS but I really mean _a _TARDIS because the TARDIS she was...created in wasn't this one."  
"There's another TARDIS?"  
"No! Don't be silly! I gave the metacrisis a piece of the TARDIS so he could grow his own. He obviously did and travelled in it with Rose, during which  
they must have...created Chloe. So, she was created in a TARDIS in a parallel universe but not exactly this TARDIS."  
It took Jack a moment to think about what the Time Lord just said. "Right...So why are you teaching her?"  
"Well, she's going to need to know how to fly it one day. Why not let it be today?"  
"I'm still here, by the way," Chloe pointed out.  
"Sorry," Jack and the Doctor said in unison.  
Chloe looked at River and both of them chuckled.  
"Right!" The Doctor said, clapping his hands together, "Let's get going! Chloe, pull that lever!"  
Chloe pulled the lever he had pointed her to, and the TARDIS jolted, zooming into the time vortex.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Hello! Apologies it's taken me so long to update – I was really stuck on what to write, but I got there! I hope you enjoy it and if you've got any ideas or suggestions, don't hesitate to share them :p Anyway, enjoy! :)**_

The TARDIS landed with a slight jolt. Chloe looked at the Doctor, who grinned at her and pulled the scanner towards him. "Well, we've landed," he said as he watched the symbols on the screen. "Have we landed in the right place?" River asked teasingly, "You're well known for not getting to where you want to."  
The Doctor looked at her," Yes, we've landed in the right place. Right time as well."  
"Well done, Chloe," River praised.  
"Oi! If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't have known how to do it!"  
"You know full well that the TARDIS would teach her!"  
Chloe laughed as the Doctor pulled a face at his wife. He turned round to Chloe. "Go on. Get it set up. We'll be there in a minute or two."  
Chloe nodded and took the bottle of fizzy drink out of its container, as well as the Mentos. The Doctor and River glared at Jack. "I'll go help her," he said, understanding what they were trying to get across.  
He went over to Chloe, who argued that she was fine on her own. He helped her anyway, whilst she kept insisting she could cope. The other two watched them with a smile. As Jack shut the TARDIS doors, River turned to the Doctor. "Why are you being like this?" She asked, arms crossed.  
"Like what?"  
"You seem rather fatherly to her."  
"If you haven't noticed, River, her parents died and she's a Time Lord. Plus, we're sort of family."  
"Family? How?"  
"Well, in my incarnation before this one, my hand got cut off and I grew another one. Then my friend, Donna, touched it, creating a Metacrisis who I sent to the parallel universe where he married Rose and they had a baby who became Chloe. As the Metacrisis had my DNA but also a bit of Donna's, it means I'm sort of Chloe's grandfather."  
"So I'm sort of related to her?"  
"Yes, I suppose you're then her step-grandmother. Or grandmother or whatever, I dunno. Up to you, but we are family, and I will look out for her, just like her mother asked me to."  
"You still don't have to be so excited."  
"What else am I meant to be then? Miserable? If you haven't noticed, she's not had much of a childhood, and I need a distraction. So, if you'll excuse me, River, I'm going to have some fun." With that, he went outside of the TARDIS. River let out a sigh before following him.

"Right!" The Doctor exclaimed, clapping his hands together as he stepped out. Chloe turned to him and gave him a smile. "We're almost done," she said as Jack fidgeted with the bottle and the Mentos. "Good!" He praised, "Though I don't think it needs that long to set up."  
Chloe shrugged and smiled as River came out.  
"We'll have to stand back," Jack warned, "I've watched videos about things like this and it can cause a big reaction."  
"Not bad I hope," the Doctor said.  
"No, nothing like that. Right! Ready?"  
The Doctor happily said yes, as Chloe frowned at something. "Chloe, what's wrong?"  
"Doctor, the TARDIS," she replied, pointing behind them.  
The others turned to the TARDIS and saw it was in the middle of vanishing. "No, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor shouted, and brushed a hand through his hair. "Oh, that's just brilliant, isn't it?"  
"What happened?" River and Jack asked at the same time.  
Chloe walked to where the TARDIS was and sniffed. "Doctor, can you smell that?"  
The Doctor also casually sniffed and instantly pulled a face. "Oh! Yes. Teleport. Nasty. Short range though, so whatever took the TARDIS-"  
"Is nearby," Chloe finished.


End file.
